2024 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix¶

sabah alkhayr ya mudirin and welcome to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix of 2024 race report! That's it, we are underway for sure now, we have had 2 full races of Max domination and absolute chaos off the track. At least there is a little more to talk about this week. So let's get into it.

I'll try and stick clear of most of the gossip currently going around off-track, but it does seem like someone at Red Bull is going to be leaving soon, we just don't know who yet. Rumours are circling that Red Bull will sack Horner soon, some say that Max and Helmut are leaving, some say that Perez is leaving. There's really no way to predict what will happen. What I do know, and what I will mention but not comment on, is that the female member of staff involved in the investigation has been suspended, for now.

Elsewhere, there are rumours flying around that Max will be at Mercedes next year, with their being little-to-no evidence aside from some risky tweets over the weekend, it's hard to tell whether this will come true or not. For me, that'd be quite exciting to see Max take on another team and start almost "from scratch" again, giving someone else a go in the rocket ship Red Bull.

In [ ]:

import subprocess
import src.dataIO as io
import src.webDataIO as wio

from pathlib import Path

year = 2024
race = 'Saudi Arabia'

Grand Prix Report¶

With all that going on off-track, was there anything left for the on-track action? Well Carlos Sainz' appendix sure thought so. The Spanish driver went off ill on Friday morning before FP3, to be replaced on short notice by the F2 pole man, Oliver Bearman. The Ferrari junior driver stood in for one practice session, qualifying, and the race in his first competitive F1 appearance at 18 years old. All eyes were on him throughout the weekend, and he did not disappoint.

Qualifying Report¶

Qualifying was a mixed bag of emotions. Max Verstappen placed his RB20 on pole by almost 3 tenths of a second, leaps and bounds ahead of the field. This was also the fastest ever lap around the Jeddah circuit, beating Hamilton's 2021 lap by a few hundredths of a second, and a 0.1 km/h average speed. Very impressive indeed. But it was incredible close further down the grid, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc securing P2, just ahead of Perez, Alonso, Piastri, and Norris, all within 3 tenths of a second. Rookie sensation Bearman just missed out on his first Q3 appearance by 4 hundredths of a second to 7-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

Haas are a team that seem to be showing some real pace lately, and not just one-lap pace, but race pace too. It's come at the cost of some one-lap pace, with both Haas cars going out in Q2, sadly Nico went out due to a reliability issue. I'm sure that they will take the sacrifice of single-lap performance for race-pace any day, and this paragraph is clearly foreshadowing some later discussions. Below is the full qualifying table.

In [ ]:

wio.outputs_qualifying_data(
    year=year,
    race=race)

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen VER	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:28.171	1:28.033	1:27.472	18
2	16	Charles Leclerc LEC	Ferrari	1:28.318	1:28.112	1:27.791	23
3	11	Sergio Perez PER	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:28.638	1:28.467	1:27.807	19
4	14	Fernando Alonso ALO	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:28.706	1:28.122	1:27.846	17
5	81	Oscar Piastri PIA	McLaren Mercedes	1:28.755	1:28.343	1:28.089	22
6	4	Lando Norris NOR	McLaren Mercedes	1:28.805	1:28.479	1:28.132	22
7	63	George Russell RUS	Mercedes	1:28.749	1:28.448	1:28.316	22
8	44	Lewis Hamilton HAM	Mercedes	1:28.994	1:28.606	1:28.460	24
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda TSU	RB Honda RBPT	1:28.988	1:28.564	1:28.547	18
10	18	Lance Stroll STR	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:28.250	1:28.578	1:28.572	19
11	38	Oliver Bearman BEA	Ferrari	1:28.984	1:28.642		18
12	23	Alexander Albon ALB	Williams Mercedes	1:29.107	1:28.980		16
13	20	Kevin Magnussen MAG	Haas Ferrari	1:29.069	1:29.020		17
14	3	Daniel Ricciardo RIC	RB Honda RBPT	1:29.065	1:29.025		12
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg HUL	Haas Ferrari	1:29.055	DNF		10
16	77	Valtteri Bottas BOT	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:29.179			9
17	31	Esteban Ocon OCO	Alpine Renault	1:29.475			10
18	10	Pierre Gasly GAS	Alpine Renault	1:29.479			9
19	2	Logan Sargeant SAR	Williams Mercedes	1:29.526			9
NC	24	Zhou Guanyu ZHO	Kick Sauber Ferrari	DNF			2

Race Report¶

The race wasn't too much to sing and dance about to be honest, as with the previous Jeddah race, the drivers are all pretty well behaved around this high-speed street circuit and there weren't that many incidents to talk about. Max obviously got off the line well and pulled out a lead very early. A lead he was able to hold on to for most of the Grand Prix, with only a safety car meaning he wasn't leading for the whole race. He really did look untouchable, beating his team mate by 13 seconds this week. Speaking of Perez, that's another strong performance for the Mexican driver, who we all said last year was lucky to still have that drive. Yes the one lap performance might not be there, but clearly in race trim he is doing the job that Red Bull pay him to do. He's secured two P2 finishes this year, and that's exactly what he has to do. A good turn around for Perez over the winter break.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc rounded off the podium with a strong $2^{nd}$ on the grid to a $3^{rd}$ place finish. Leclerc had somewhat of a lonely race with the Red Bulls far off into the distance and the chasing McLarens, Mercedes, and Alonso far behind. Oscar Piastri came out as the best McLaren of the weekend, spending most of his race staring down the back of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes. These two, once joint constructors, seem to be very well balanced against each other, with the McLarens choosing to run a high downforce setup for a sector one blast, and Mercedes opting for the straight line speed in sector 3. It meant that both of them couldn't separate from the other, even with a tyre difference in Oscar's favour.

Fernando had a decent race as the only Aston Martin to finish the race. It seems the Aston's pace at Bahrain, or lack thereof, was a one off. It would be nice to see him mixing it up with his fellow engined cars. The star of the show, however, was Oliver Bearman, who jumped in the car in free practice 3, and brought home a decent chunk of points in seventh place. The Brit started softs and pitted under the safety car, which definitely helped, but he withstood the pressure of Norris and Hamilton chasing him down to the very last lap on much younger and softer tyres.

Haas demonstrated their master plan to score points this weekend. Allow Kevin Magnussen to be Kevin Magnussen and rack up a bunch of penalties, to then just hold up the rest of the pack and allow Nico to score some points. It worked a treat. Now, I'm not suggesting that Haas can do this every week as some people on the internet are, but it certainly worked as a nice backup plan this weekend. Magnussen displayed some great level of defensive driving to hold off Albon, Ocon, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, and Bottas for most of the race, only eventually letting Albon through, by which point it was already too late. I believe this move has jumped Haas into sixth place in the constructors' championship.

A final comment on the two DNF drivers, who are the first drivers not to finish a race since Las Vegas 2022. Pierre Gasly is probably regretting his decision to move to Alpine right about now, the French outfit seemingly nowhere in terms of pace, and now struggling with reliability issues. Still, if they keep sacking people it will only get better, right? Stroll was unlucky to clip the barrier in sector 3 and lucky to be unscathed after hitting that barrier at 200 kph. I don't necessarily have anything bad to say about this incident, I mean yes it is Lance Stroll, but these incidents can happen to anyone at any moment on a high speed street circuit. Lance has displayed some better racing so far this year, and hopefully this is just a blip on the year.

In [ ]:

wio.outputs_race_result(
    year=year,
    race=race)

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	PTS
1	1	Max Verstappen VER	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	50	1:20:43.273	25
2	11	Sergio Perez PER	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	50	+13.643s	18
3	16	Charles Leclerc LEC	Ferrari	50	+18.639s	16
4	81	Oscar Piastri PIA	McLaren Mercedes	50	+32.007s	12
5	14	Fernando Alonso ALO	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	50	+35.759s	10
6	63	George Russell RUS	Mercedes	50	+39.936s	8
7	38	Oliver Bearman BEA	Ferrari	50	+42.679s	6
8	4	Lando Norris NOR	McLaren Mercedes	50	+45.708s	4
9	44	Lewis Hamilton HAM	Mercedes	50	+47.391s	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg HUL	Haas Ferrari	50	+76.996s	1
11	23	Alexander Albon ALB	Williams Mercedes	50	+88.354s	0
12	20	Kevin Magnussen MAG	Haas Ferrari	50	+105.737s	0
13	31	Esteban Ocon OCO	Alpine Renault	49	+1 lap	0
14	2	Logan Sargeant SAR	Williams Mercedes	49	+1 lap	0
15	22	Yuki Tsunoda TSU	RB Honda RBPT	49	+1 lap	0
16	3	Daniel Ricciardo RIC	RB Honda RBPT	49	+1 lap	0
17	77	Valtteri Bottas BOT	Kick Sauber Ferrari	49	+1 lap	0
18	24	Zhou Guanyu ZHO	Kick Sauber Ferrari	49	+1 lap	0
NC	18	Lance Stroll STR	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	5	DNF	0
NC	10	Pierre Gasly GAS	Alpine Renault	1	DNF	0

Fastest Lap¶

New this week, a short comment on the fastest laps of the race. Charles Leclerc took the fastest lap of the race, bagging that extra point in the championship. The Monegasque driver taking a 1.31.632 on lap 50 of 50 with an average speed of 242.561 kph. Rather staggeringly, this was on his old hard tyres, beating Lewis Hamilton by over 1 tenth of a second on new (ish) softs.

In [ ]:

wio.outputs_fastest_lap(
    year=year,
    race=race)

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Lap	Time of day	Time	Avg Speed
1	16	Charles Leclerc LEC	Ferrari	50	21:25:00	1:31.632	242.561
2	44	Lewis Hamilton HAM	Mercedes	38	21:07:01	1:31.746	242.260
3	1	Max Verstappen VER	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	50	21:24:42	1:31.773	242.188
4	4	Lando Norris NOR	McLaren Mercedes	40	21:10:04	1:31.944	241.738
5	38	Oliver Bearman BEA	Ferrari	50	21:25:24	1:32.186	241.103
6	24	Zhou Guanyu ZHO	Kick Sauber Ferrari	49	21:25:11	1:32.208	241.046
7	63	George Russell RUS	Mercedes	42	21:12:58	1:32.254	240.926
8	11	Sergio Perez PER	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	37	21:04:47	1:32.273	240.876
9	23	Alexander Albon ALB	Williams Mercedes	50	21:26:10	1:32.307	240.787
10	81	Oscar Piastri PIA	McLaren Mercedes	45	21:17:31	1:32.310	240.779
11	20	Kevin Magnussen MAG	Haas Ferrari	47	21:21:26	1:32.338	240.706
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg HUL	Haas Ferrari	49	21:24:26	1:32.366	240.633
13	14	Fernando Alonso ALO	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	43	21:14:30	1:32.387	240.579
14	77	Valtteri Bottas BOT	Kick Sauber Ferrari	49	21:25:05	1:32.706	239.751
15	2	Logan Sargeant SAR	Williams Mercedes	49	21:24:49	1:33.026	238.926
16	3	Daniel Ricciardo RIC	RB Honda RBPT	47	21:21:43	1:33.323	238.166
17	31	Esteban Ocon OCO	Alpine Renault	48	21:23:12	1:33.481	237.763
18	22	Yuki Tsunoda TSU	RB Honda RBPT	44	21:16:58	1:33.523	237.657
19	18	Lance Stroll STR	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	5	20:12:04	1:35.560	232.591

Fantasy League Scores¶

Lineup Scores¶

Ok I think I have waffled enough, let's see what this race has done to the fantasy league standings. First let's begin with the driver/team points for the grid. The data you see below are the current total points and values for each driver and team. Values are taken going into the race and updated for next race after I submit the report.

In [ ]:

weekly_scores = {
    "Name": ["Points", "Value"],
    "Race": [f'{race}'],
    "Ocon": [15, 8.3],
    "Gasly": [-14, 7.7],
    "Stroll": [-9, 11.2],
    "Alonso": [23, 15.9],
    "Leclerc": [59, 19.4],
    "Sainz": ['N/A', "N/A"],
    "Bearman": [26, 14.0],
    "Magnussen": [14, 6.7],
    "Hulkenberg": [6, 6.2],
    "Bottas": [-1, 6.2],
    "Guanyu": [9, 7.1],
    "Norris": [24, 23.1],
    "Piastri": [33, 19.1],
    "Hamilton": [18, 19.4],
    "Russell": [35, 19.1],
    "Tsunoda": [-2, 7.8],
    "Ricciardo": [5, 8.9],
    "Verstappen": [81, 30.2],
    "Perez": [62, 21.2],
    "Albon": [6, 6.8],
    "Sargeant": [10, 5.4],
    "Alpine": [-1, 8.3],
    "Aston Martin": [29, 14.1],
    "Ferrari": [131, 19.6],
    "Haas": [28, 6.2],
    "Kick Sauber": [6, 6.5],
    "McLaren": [77, 23.3],
    "Mercedes": [78, 20.2],
    "RB": [11, 8.4],
    "Red Bull": [179, 28.0],
    "Williams": [18, 6.2]}
root = Path().absolute()
if Path(f'{root}/Data/{year}/Lineup/{race}_Results.json').is_file():
    pass
else:
    io.save_json_dicts(
        out_path=Path(f'{root}/Data/{year}/Lineup_Weekly.json'),
        dictionary=weekly_scores)
subprocess.run(["python", "lineup.py", f'{year}'])

Out[ ]:

CompletedProcess(args=['python', 'lineup.py', '2024'], returncode=0)

If I were to report this like Crofty, I would now say something like "Charles Leclerc wins the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix", but I'm not Crofty, so I'll say, Charles Leclerc scores the most points in Saudi Arabia. The Ferrari man takes home 37 points, 1 more than Max Verstappen in second, with Sergio Perez in third with 31 points. Close behind is Oliver Bearman with 26, and Oscar Piastri rounds out the top five for this week with 23. It comes as no surprise that Pierre Gasly scores the least amount of points this week, the Frenchman wallowing with -20 points, closely followed by Canada's Lance Stroll with -17. A double negative score for both Kick Sauber drivers, Guanyu Zhou on -2, and Bottas on -1. Rounding out the bottom five is Yuki Tsunoda with -1.

Red Bull were once again the team to beat this week, bringing home a solid 90 points. The Milton Keynes based team leaps ahead of the Italian Scuderia in second with 58 points. Alpine's woes continue as they only score -13 points. Things aren't much better for the Swiss team of Kick Sauber either, only managing a -4 this week.

Max maintains his lead at the top of the table with 81 points, followed by teammate Perez with 62. A good week for Leclerc jumps him up to third with 59 points, ahead of teammate Sainz with 36. George Russell is in fourth with 35 points, and Oscar Piastri rounds out the top 5 with 33 points. Pierre Gasly sits alone at the bottom of the table with -14 points, with Lance stroll totalling -9 as his nearest competition. Yuki Tsunoda, despite not having terrible races, is in third with -2 points, just ahead of Valtteri Bottas with -1. Daniel Ricciardo is the lowest driver with positive points, rounding out the bottom five with 5 points.

Red Bull stretch their advantage at the top, now comfortable with 179 points, and Ferrari eek out further ahead of the chasing pack with 131 points. Alpine and Kick still sit at the bottom of the table with -1 and 6 points, respectively.

In [ ]:

points_files = [
    'Driver_Points_Bar.png',
    'Team_Points_Bar.png',
    'Driver_Sum Points.png',
    'Team_Sum Points.png']
directory_path = Path(f'{root}/Data/{year}/Figures/{race}')
file_paths = [Path(f'{directory_path}/{race}_{file}') for file in points_files]
[io.display_img(file_path=path, width=1200, height=720) for path in file_paths]

No description has been provided for this image

Out[ ]:

[None, None, None, None]

Max remains the highest value token across the entire field for another week at $30 million, with Norris weirdly still holding on in second at $23.0 million. Perez, Leclerc, and Hamilton are all not too far behind either with $21.2, $19.4, and $19.4 million each. Sainz this week was worthless as he didn't compete, but Sargeant still presents the cheapest option at $5.4 million. Red Bull top the constructors charts with $28.0 million in value, while Haas and Williams are tied for that bottom spot with $6.2 million each.

In [ ]:

average_files = [
    'Driver_Values_Bar.png',
    'Team_Values_Bar.png',
    'Driver_Average Points.png',
    'Team_Average Points.png']
directory_path = Path(f'{root}/Data/{year}/Figures/{race}')
file_paths = [
    Path(f'{directory_path}/{race}_{file}') for file in average_files]
[io.display_img(file_path=path, width=1200, height=720) for path in file_paths]

$No description has been provided for this image$

Out[ ]:

[None, None, None, None]

This week, your bang for your buck came from the Ferrari drivers. Leclerc tops the table with 1.91 points per million dollars, with Bearman close behind with 1.86 points per million. If you were playing this efficiently, your team would be Leclerc, Bearman, Perez, Hulkenberg, and Sargeant for that maximum points per value. The ones to avoid this week were Gasly and Stroll with a -2.6 and -1.52 points per million dollars, respectively. You could also have chosen Red Bull or Haas at 3.21 and 3.06 points per million dollars, but stay clear of Alpine and Kick Sauber with -1.57 and -0.62 points per million, respectively.

In [ ]:

ppv_files = [
    'Driver_Points Per Value_Bar.png',
    'Team_Points Per Value_Bar.png',
    'Driver_Average Points Per Value.png',
    'Team_Average Points Per Value.png']
directory_path = Path(f'{root}/Data/{year}/Figures/{race}')
file_paths = [Path(f'{directory_path}/{race}_{file}') for file in ppv_files]
[io.display_img(file_path=path, width=1200, height=720) for path in file_paths]

Out[ ]:

[None, None, None, None]

In [ ]:

subprocess.run(["python", "manager.py", f'{year}'])

Out[ ]:

CompletedProcess(args=['python', 'manager.py', '2024'], returncode=0)

Manager Scores¶

Now let's look at the winners and losers between you lot. Patrick takes the top step this week, the reigning champions Johnny UniHaas returning to form with a stonking 287 points. Now, this was due to the use of an early limitless token, but points make prizes and Patrick is not going to let his title slip without a fight. In second, we have Toby and Hesketh 2.1 with a solid 208 points to keep Patrick on his toes. Behind these two in third and fourth place, we have Stefanus with Gelael and Haryanto with 206 and 199 points, respectively. Rounding out the top five this week is Val with My Fav'rit Colour Is Blue and 198 points.

As if it wasn't enough to win the big league this week, Patrick is also taking the top step of the Golf League weekly winners with Racing No Points and -17. He is closely followed by Joe and alpine sandbags with -10 points, who are both leaps ahead of Andrew and sBinnala Yacht Club with 14 points in third place. Stuart and Ferrari Strategists are next in fourth with 18 points, just 1 ahead of James and Bwoah Rolex Sipsmith Golf with 19.

Manager of the week this week is Toby with an average score of 208 points. Honourable mention to Stefanus, Cameron, Sam, and Pierce who are hot on his tail for that Manager of the Year award, which of course Toby does not qualify for.

A strong week for Patrick sees Johnny UniHaas take the top step in the overall scores with 497 points, but Stefanus and Haryanto, Syahrul, and Gelael are all close behind with 437, 416, and 403 points, respectively. Rounding out the top 5 is Toby and Hesketh 2.1 and Val and My Fav'rit Colour is Blue with 401 points each.

It's a week all about reigning champion Patrick who is also in the lead in the golf league with Racing No Points and 23 points. In second we have Joe and alpine sandbags with 52, closely followed by Andrew and sBinnala Yacht Club with 62. Just missing out on the podium for now is James and Bwoah Rolex Sipsmith Golf with 63, and Stuart and Ferrari Strategists rounds out the bottom five with 67 points.

In [ ]:

team_files = [
    'LeagueTeams_Points_Bar.png',
    'LeagueManagers_Average Points_Bar.png',
    'LeagueTeams_Sum Points.png',
    'LeagueManagers_Sum Points.png']
directory_path = Path(f'{root}/Data/{year}/Figures/{race}')
file_paths = [
    Path(f'{directory_path}/{race}_{file}') for file in team_files]
[io.display_img(file_path=path, width=1200, height=720) for path in file_paths]

Out[ ]:

[None, None, None, None]

Alex Albon remains the most used driver this week, two weeks on the trot. He is closely followed by Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, the three have uses of 33, 29, and 27, respectively, out of a possible 63. A driver I am surprised to see used so much given their poor performance is Valtteri Bottas with 22 selections this week, and Fernando Alonso rounds out the top 5 used drivers with 20. All 21 drivers were selected this week, surprisingly, but a last minute change by Ferrari means Bearman and Sainz are the least selected drivers with 2 and 5, respectively. Piastri and Russell next, despite beating their respective team mates with 6 selections. Ocon and Perez round out the bottom five with 8 and 9 selections from a possible 63, each.

Ferrari are again the most selected team this week with 23 of 63, with Alpine suffering down with 6 of 63 possible selections. It seems you lot can't decide which Red Bull team to choose, with 17 and 16 selections for RB and Red Bull, respectively. Max Verstappen tops the charts for most DRS Boosted driver this week with 28 of your teams having him in the hot seat. I'm slightly concerned by the 1 Yuki Tsunoda, but I'm going to assume that that is for the Golf League.

Perk season has well and truly begun it seems, 4 of you used Wildcards to reset after poor choices in Bahrain, or perhaps to allow you to sub out Sainz at the last minute. 2 of you used Final Fix, probably for the ame reason, with 1 a piece for No Negative, Limitless, and Extra DRS. The No Negative Token is the reason this report is so delayed, they have changed the way it works so that now it discounts any negative points scored by a driver through the race weekend. So essentially, if a driver scores -2 in the race for being overtaken twice, but scores 2 in qualifying for getting 8th, they score 2. In the old season this would have meant a score of 0. It messed up my code, but it is fixed now.

In [ ]:

count_files = [
    'LeagueCounts_Driver_Bar.png',
    'LeagueCounts_Constructor_Bar.png',
    'LeagueCounts_DRS Boost_Bar.png',
    'LeagueCounts_Extra DRS_Bar.png',
    'LeagueCounts_Perks_Bar.png']
directory_path = Path(f'{root}/Data/{year}/Figures/{race}')
file_paths = [
    Path(f'{directory_path}/{race}_{file}') for file in count_files]
[io.display_img(file_path=path, width=1200, height=720) for path in file_paths]

Out[ ]:

[None, None, None, None, None]

For more figures, please see the Facebook group album.

Prizes¶

Bahrain was a spot prize, specifically "Obviously Do That Tactically", which is awarded for the highest score at Saudi Arabia. The highest score spot prize goes to Patrick and Johnny UniHaas with a score of 287. I had planned to have some plotting tracking of the prizes ready, and this is what has slowed down the progress on publishing this report. But I haven't quite got it yet, and it's nearly Australia, so for now it's just a passing comment. Stay tuned for more.

F1 Play¶

Another win for Stuart this week in the F1 play league with a 5/10 on his predictions. Josh takes second, scoring another 3/10, and Matty takes third with 2/10. This takes the scores to 8 for Stuart, 6 for Josh, and 4 for Matty.

In [ ]:

F1_play = {
    "Stuart S": [3, 5],
    "Matty J": [2, 2],
    "Josh M": [2, 3]}

Next Up¶

Next up Australia, the land down under. Australia is a weird one, it is technically a street circuit, but it's also considered a purpose built track due to it being through a park. It can often throw up some chaos too, which will be good if we get any of that. See you all at 4am for the race!